Brsck-drier



W. E. COLE.'

BRICK DRER.

(No Model.)

Patented Feb, 21

mesura UNITED STATES PATENT Erica BRlCK-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,236, dated February 2l, 1888. Application filed August 16, 1887. Serial No. MLUSL (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM E. COLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Montgomery, in the county of Montgomery and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brick-Driers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

illy invention relates to devices for evaporating the moisture of bricks and other material; and the objects of my improvement are to produce an inexpensive box-iloor, in connection with shielding boards,for drying bricks by steam, as specifically set forth in the claim.

I accomplish these objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of a boxoor constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same, partly broken away and the side boards removed to show the internal parting-blocks to supportthe top sheet of the floor and the heavy weight that may be placed thereon. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the same boxiioor placed under a shed.

In said drawings, A represents the foundation or ground upon which rests the boxfloor B, that may be tive to eight feet wide and a hundred and iifty feet long, more orless. This door is in thc lform of a shallow rectangular box about an inch deep, having asheetmetal top, b, and a bottom, b2, either of sheet metal or of matched and well-litting boards to forni a smooth surface, upon which steam or water can travel with very little friction. If both the top and betteln are of sheet metal, their edges may be suitably bent and riveted together; but if thc bottom is made of wood, said top and bottom are nailed to wood partingstrips b3, placed adjacent to their edges, that at the saine time keep said top and bottom at a proper distance apart. Suitable packing is placed between said edges and the strips b,to render the box-floor steam-tight when its edges are secured together. lVithin this box-floor are also placed a series of parting-blocks, bt, to support the top I) at a substantially uniform 5o distance from the bottom, and also to support the weight of bricks or other material to be dried upon said door; but said blocks are at such distances apart as not to interfere with the circulation of steam in any direction within the boX-iloor. A pipe, d, is inserted in one end of this oor,to admit steam therein either from the exhaust-pipe of an engine or live steam direct from the boiler in the night-time when the engine is at rest, or from a boiler used specially for that purpose.

The box-door is slightly inclined downward toward one end, preferably the end opposite that in which the steam is admitted, to direct to that end the water resulting from the condensation of steam, and said'water is carried off through a pipe, d, that may be provided with a trap and a cock, whereby its escape can be partly prevented and also regulated.

To concentrate the caloric ascending from the top plate, D, of the box-door when steam is circulating therein and prevent winds from carrying it away too rapidly, there is placed a series of boards, C, alongside of the boxfloor. Said boards stand substantially vertically on their edges, and are preferably hinged at c to the box door. Short posts or standards G2 are placed at the ends of each board, to

'which said boards can be secured by hooks c2 or any other suitable means. The box-floor is preferably placed under sheds E, as usually found in brick-yards, to keep rain from falling upon the drying bricks.

By the above inexpensive means bricks can be made and dried during all the seasons of the year and in wet as well as in dry weather.

Having now fully described my invention, I Claim- The combination of a bonfloor consisting of a metal top plate, b, and a bottom, b, united at their edges, and a series of parting-blocks between said top p'late and bottom, with a steamleading pipe at one end and an escape-pipe at the other, and boards C, secured alongside of said box-floor, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VILLIAM E. COLE.

W'itn esses:

E. Masson,

C. WURDEMAN. 

